OkiChi Week
by Eliz1369
Summary: Collection of OkiChi fics from tumblr for OkiChi week/Okitober Fest Rating G to Strong T
1. Castle in the Corn

Castle in the Corn

Prompts: Regret and Lost  
Rating: T  
Length: 2,200 words  
Description: Modern AU set ~10 years after An Unearned Gift. Okita and Chizuru are taking their daughters on an excursion to a corn maze, but their plans go awry when one of the girls decides to run off.

Author's Note: Yay! OkiChi Week/Okitober Fest is finally hereI Check out kurokiorya on Tumblr for the amazing illustration she drew for this fic.

* * *

"But Mom, I want to find the castle!"

Souji couldn't help a small chuckle at the way their six year-old daughter managed to mirror Chizuru's own stubborn posture. Everyone insisted that their youngest, Natsumi, had gotten his stubborn personality along with his green eyes, but he'd faced off against his wife's own particular brand of stubbornness often enough to know that wasn't entirely true.

The family of four stood in the middle of a giant, kid-friendly, halloween themed corn maze. Currently their older daughter was attempting to lead them to the giant pumpkin and was doing a fairly good job of it. Despite getting much of Chizuru's calmer personality - an immense benefit with a younger sister like Natsumi - Sachiko thankfully hadn't inherited her mother's distinct lack of direction. The cards were still up in the air for Natsumi, but she was young… Or at least that's what Souji hoped. Keeping track of Chizuru in busy places was hard enough, but at least she didn't have a habit of running off when she didn't get her way like Natsumi did.

Chizuru gave him a slightly aggravated look for the ill-timed laugh before turning to Natsumi. "I've told you, it's Sachi's turn. Once she leads us to the pumpkin, then you can take us to Dracula's castle."

Mother and daughter faced off against each other, neither apparently willing to back down. The stalemate was broken when Sachiko hesitantly offered, "It's okay mom. If Tsumi really wants to, we can go see the castle first."

Chizuru shook her head as she turned to look at her other daughter. "That's very mature of you, but it's not the point. It's your turn right now and Tsumi will just have to patient."

Souji could practically see the wheels turning inside Natsumi's head, so it came as no surprise to him when she used Chizuru's distraction to bolt down the path.

Instantly Chizuru's head whipped back around, her voice rising in panic as she called, "Okita Natsumi! Come back here!"

He put a hand on Chizuru's shoulder, stopping her as she tried to follow after their daughter and gave her a reassuring kiss on the forehead as he said, "I'll get her, don't worry." Chizuru meant well, but she'd be more likely to end up lost herself.

He felt Chizuru relax slightly, but that didn't stop her from biting anxiously at her lip as she looked down the path where Natsumi had run. Turning to an equally worried Sachiko, he knelt down until he was level with her short eight year-old height and rested a hand on her head.

"You and Mom go see the pumpkin and Tsumi and I will meet you at the castle, all right?" When his reassurance didn't seem to entirely ease his daughter's fear for her sister, he said seriously, "While I'm gone, I need you to take care of Mom for me. Can I trust you to get her there safely?"

An all too familiar determined light entered Sachiko's brown eyes as she nodded and took her mother's hand. "You can trust me."

"Good girl."

Souji ruffled her hair before turning to jog down the path after Natsumi. His daughter was now well out of sight, but thus far the path hadn't split. She'd be ahead of him unless she'd tried to get through the wall of corn. With his longer legs, he shouldn't have too much trouble catching up with her.

When the first fork came in sight and he still hadn't seen Natsumi, Souji started to worry. He stopped and looked down both directions, but couldn't see her or any sign of which direction she'd taken. It was like she'd vanished into thin air.

Thankfully his worry didn't last long. Now that his own feet were silent, he could hear the faint sound of running footsteps to his right. Determined to catch up with her before they ended up who-knew-where, he sprinted down the path, taking the turns as quickly as he dared.

It was with more than a little surprise that Souji slid to a stop at yet another divide and again he had yet to catch up to his daughter. How had he not found her yet? She was six years old for goodness sake. Worse yet, he couldn't even hear over his own winded breathing. He'd known sprinting that distance was probably pushing it but he'd been so sure that he would catch up…

He rested his hands on his knees as he tried to slow down his breathing to the point where he could hear. "Shit…"

A high pitched gasp from behind him made him freeze and he straightened as he slowly turned around. Low and behold there was the very person he had been looking for. She must have heard him coming and managed to tuck herself into a gap in the corn before he'd come into sight. Her plan had almost worked, since he had very nearly run right past her.

Natsumi froze, her eyes widening as she realized that she had given herself away, but the look didn't last long. It quickly transformed into her usual defiant expression that tended to give her Uncle Hijikata fits. Head up and shoulders stiff, she gamely marched out of her hiding spot to face him.

She pointed a finger at him as she said, "That's a bad word! I'm going to tell Mom what you said!"

The sight of his six year-old daughter attempting to blackmail him was amusing enough that he had to seriously fight to keep a smile off his face. Instead he raised an eyebrow as he folded his arms. "Oh, you are, are you?"

"Y-Yes!" she said, though there was now a hint of uncertainty in her voice. Clearly that wasn't the response she had been expecting.

Souji let a smirk start to pull at his lips. "Hmm~, I thought you knew what happened to tattletales…"

He and Chizuru had made sure that both of their daughters knew the difference between tattling because it was the right thing to do, and doing it purely to get someone in trouble. Blackmail certainly did not fall into that former category.

Natsumi's eyes widened as she tried to bolt again, but Souji was faster and within only a few steps, he had scooped her up. She let out a half giggle, half scream as he dangled her over his shoulder by her knees. He had to dodge as one of her flailing legs came close to hitting his head and her fists beat uselessly on his back.

"Dad! Put me down!"

"Nope."

After a few more moments of struggling, she finally gave up and sagged against him as she muttered, "Fine, I won't tell."

"What was that? I couldn't hear you."

"I won't tell Mom!"

Carefully, he pulled her back over and settled her on his hip. She glanced up at him briefly before hiding her face in his neck, her fingers tightly curled into his shirt. "I'm sorry…"

He had a good idea of what she was actually apologizing for, but decided to ask anyway. "For what?"

"…For running away," she hesitated a moment before she asked with a quaver in her voice, "I-Is Mom mad at me?"

Souji sighed as he rested his cheek on top of her head and gently rubbed her back. "No, she's not mad. You just scared her."

"Oh…" After a moment Natsumi pulled back to look up at him, biting her lip in a way that she could have only learned from her mother. "Can we go find her?"

"Well I'd like to, but I came after you, so I don't know where she is. Why don't we go wait for her at the castle?"

Natsumi's expression brightened at the offer, but it was quickly touched by a trace of confusion. "How do we get there?"

He grinned down at her. "Like this."

Repositioning his hold, he lifted her until she sat on his shoulders and could see above the cornstalks.

"Do you see the castle?"

Keeping one hand on his head as she twisted around, she scanned the area for a moment before excitedly pointing in a direction to their left.

"There!"

He started walking down the left path as he said, "All right then, let's go find that castle."

Considering it was a maze, their method of navigation worked fairly well. Every time they reached an intersection, Natsumi would point them in the direction of the castle. Even with the occasional backtrack, they soon found themselves walking into the castle's clearing.

Calling it a castle was a bit of an overstatement in Souji's opinion. They'd done a decent job of setting up the surrounding graveyard, complete with witty sayings on each of the stones, but "Dracula's Castle" was more of a tower with a painted stone motif and a spiral staircase wrapping around to the observation deck on top. Of course, he knew nothing could be permanent if they were going to be able to replant next year, but still.

He set Natsumi down, and she instantly ran to the nearest of the grave stones, tracing her finger along the carved words as she tried to sound them out.

"M… T… Tom-Tomb?" She glanced up at him and he nodded approvingly, keeping back his grin at the pun that had flown right over her head. Excitedly she ran to the next, "I… L… Beback"

Natsumi had started toward a third, when she hesitated, her face becoming slightly sad, "I wish Sachi was here…"

Souji walked over, picking her up and settling her on his shoulders again as he started toward the tower. "Yeah, I know, but that's what happens when you run off. We all do things we regret or wish we hadn't done. What's important is that you learn from it." He felt her wrap her arms around his neck and rest her chin on his head. "What do you say we go watch for Mom and Sachi from the top of the castle?"

She didn't say anything, but Souji felt her nod as he started walking toward the staircase.

Despite being slightly lacking as a castle, the tower did have an excellent view. From the top they could see all the paths and clearings spread out before them, and even to the edges of the field itself. The very top of the giant pumpkin was just visible above the tips of the corn and presumably, Chizuru and Sachiko would be coming from that direction.

"Dad?" Natsumi asked hesitantly, breaking the silence as he moved them to better see the opening he guessed the other half of their family would appear from.

"Yeah?"

"Have you done things you regret?"

Souji let out a slow sigh as he closed his eyes, a familiar wave of guilt rolling through him. True, his own list of regrets wasn't long, but that only made those few moments stand out in sharper, more painful relief. Like he'd told Natsumi, he had gotten better at holding on to the lessons rather than the guilt of the memories themselves. The passage of time had helped as well, but there was still one memory he refused to let go of. He'd made more mistakes than he cared to admit when it came to Chizuru, but he would rather walk through hell than repeat that particular one.

Before he could figure out how to answer her question, Natsumi excitedly pointed down into the corn. "There they are!"

Souji pushed back the unwelcome memories as he opened his eyes and smiled down at his wife and oldest daughter. Chizuru had never held his mistakes against him or thrown his inadequacies back in his face. She was far more than he deserved, but of course she would just argue that wasn't the point.

It didn't take the pair long to cross the clearing and climb the tower. When they had just crested the stairs, he set down a squirming Natsumi, who ran straight to her mother.

"Please don't ever do that again Natsumi," Chizuru said as she knelt down and enfolded her in a hug so tight it almost looked painful. Natsumi didn't seem to care one bit, her smile stretching from ear to ear as Chizuru picked her up and settled her on her hip.

While Chizuru saw to Natsumi, Souji walked over to Sachiko and ruffled her hair before putting an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm proud of you kid. You did a good job getting Mom here."

Sachiko looked up at him, her eyes bright with the praise as she gave an impressively convincing melodramatic sigh. "I don't know how you do it. She almost got us lost _three_ times."

"Hmm, sounds like you deserve some ice cream for all that hard work."

They both turned to look excitedly at Chizuru, whose resigned sigh was tempered by the smile pulling at her lips.

"I think we can manage that."


	2. An Unusual Anniversary

**An Unusual Anniversary**

Prompts: Gift and Laugh  
Rating: T  
Length: 2,100 words  
Description: Modern AU set ~10 years after An Unearned Gift. After a hectic morning, Chizuru comes home ready to tackle the list of things she needs to get done. The problem is someone else has already beaten her to it.

* * *

Chizuru set her keys on the counter as she took and released a deep breath.

That morning had been more than a little crazy. To start, her alarm hadn't gone off when it was supposed to. It had gone off of course, but only just in time for her to get Sachiko and Natsumi up so they could get ready for school. That in and of itself would have been fine, but Natsumi had "forgotten" to do the last few problems on her math worksheet. So in between the normal school day rush of breakfast, lunches, and backpacks, Chizuru had been trying to help her daughter finish it without outright telling her the answers. As it was, they had only just made it to the bus on time. Thankfully with the homework completed.

With the girls and Souji gone for the day, she could now focus on the things that needed to get done around the house. She usually liked to get an earlier start, before the girls and Souji got up, but clearly that hadn't happened. By the time she'd gotten up, Souji had already been gone.

Chizuru decided that since she was in the kitchen, she might as well start with the dishes. She walked over to the sink, starting to roll up her sleeves, but stopped in surprise. While the bowls and spoons from breakfast were there, the previous night's dishes were clearly not where she had left them. Maybe Souji had moved them to the dishwasher?

Frowning, she checked the dishwasher but it was empty as well. What was going on? She made a quick circuit of the kitchen, checking for and finding each of the items she had used the previous night clean and put away in their correct places. Slowly she made her way back to the sink and absently began hand washing the bowls as she tried to figure out what was going on.

It was clear that Souji had done it, but had he also changed her alarm? While she was touched that he had thought of her and taken the time to do the dishes, it also bothered her slightly.

After the initial wave of joy at finding out she was pregnant with Sachiko, she and Souji had discussed at length what that meant for their lives. It had been non-negotiable that one of them would have to be home full time. While Kodo had been a caring father figure for her, he had also been gone frequently due to his work at the hospital, and Souji's childhood had been even more chaotic than her own in terms of parental figures. It was important to both of them that any children they had would always have access to at least one of their parents. It made finances interesting to balance, but they were stable and happy and that was all either of them cared about.

Of the two of them, Chizuru had known without a doubt that it would be her who stayed home. Not because of any traditional roles, but simply because Souji was far more established in his job than she was in hers as a consultant. With the secrets shrouding her family gone, she had been ready to move forward with her life, and for her that had meant focusing on being a mother. Of course everyone had been sad to see her go, but they had also understood and given their full support.

That wasn't to say she had stopped consulting entirely. Since Natsumi had started school, she had been able to use some of her free time during the day to do an occasional analysis for the team, even if it was still from home.

What nagged at Chizuru about Souji taking the time to do the dishes was that she didn't know why he had done it. Even if it was just simply to make her day easier, it wasn't fair for him to add work to his already busy schedule.

It took Chizuru a moment to realize that she was staring at an empty sink with all of the bowls and spoons neatly set out to dry next to it.

Shaking her head, she dried her hands on the nearby dish towel. There was nothing to be done about it now and there was certainly no use worrying over things she could just ask him about later. Chizuru pushed aside the little nagging voice and instead focused on the happier feeling of knowing that it was his way of letting her know he cared. Besides, there was still plenty left for her to do.

The laundry was next on her list, but again she was forced to stop and stare in disbelief. There was definitely something going on that she didn't know about. Not only was the basket of dirty clothes empty, but everything had been washed, dried, and either folded or neatly laid out to be hung up. She was glad Souji had at least left her something to do this time, but that still didn't explain why he was doing all of this in the first place.

When she stepped closer, her eye caught a post-it note with Souji's handwriting on it.

 _Hope you didn't mind a little extra sleep. You looked tired last night._

 _See you tonight._

 _~Souji (aka Your Fabulously Handsome Husband)_

Chizuru couldn't help a small giggle as she rolled her eyes. _Fabulously handsome indeed…_

Had he done all this simply because she had looked tired? Admittedly, she had been, but that only accounted for her alarm.

As she began mechanically placing clothes on hangers, she fought back a slight feeling of worry. Was it her birthday? It wasn't Mother's Day was it? Chizuru discarded each idea as impossible. She was pretty sure she would remember her own birthday and Mother's day was in the spring…

Chizuru accidentally dropped the shirt she was holding as a horrifying thought occurred to her. Had she somehow forgotten their anniversary?

She quickly discarded that idea as well as she picked the shirt up off the floor. Now she was just being ridiculous. Souji liked to do little things like this for her around their anniversary, which was probably why she had thought of it, but their anniversary was in March… not October.

With all of the major suspects ruled out, Chizuru had no idea what she was left with. Souji had changed her alarm to allow her to sleep in, done the dishes, and now he had done the laundry too… and all of it before she had woken up. Chizuru couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing some critical piece of information.

As soon as she had finished hanging up the last of the clothes, she walked back to the kitchen and pulled her phone out of her purse. She couldn't leave a mystery like this unsolved and what better way to do that than to ask the source? She didn't want to disrupt whatever he was doing with a call, but a text probably wouldn't hurt.

C: _What's going on?_

She hopped up onto one of the stools at the breakfast bar to wait, but it didn't take him long to respond.

S: _Nothing ;)_

C: _The dishes and laundry aren't nothing._

She hesitated a moment before adding,

C: _And neither is my alarm for that matter -.- but thank you for the extra sleep :)_

S: _Admit it, you needed it. Be ready to leave at 4. Kondou is picking up the girls._

C: _Why? Where are we going?_

S: _It's a surprise :P_

No matter what she asked or how many times she asked it, Souji refused to give up any new information. When his responses became cat gifs, she finally gave up. His cryptic answers had only made her more curious, so when her eye caught Saito's name just below Souji's, she couldn't resist.

C: _Do you know what Souji is doing?_

S: _He is working._

Upon first inspection, it seemed Saito was simply taking her question at face value and giving his usual form of succinct answer… but Chizuru couldn't help but feel that he was dodging her question. After so many years of knowing him, she had gotten much better at reading his reserved personality, even over text.

C: _I meant do you know what he's planning._

This time the pause before his response was longer

S: _I have been asked not to tell you… but I would suggest you do as he asks._

C: _...all right. Thank you._

If Saito was in on it, then she could probably assume the rest of the team was too. Flipping back over to her conversation with Souji, she grinned as she began typing.

C: _Okay Fabulously Handsome, I'll be ready. But I would like some answers when you get home._

S: _Will do :) and that's Mr. Fabulously Handsome to you._

C: _:P_

The hours until four o'clock came seemed to drag by for Chizuru. She ran the errands she needed to, but her thoughts were elsewhere, constantly trying to puzzle out just what was going on. To distract herself, she began mixing up a batch of cookies. She knew the girls and Souji would appreciate the sweet treat.

In the end, her plan for distracting herself worked better than Chizuru had anticipated. She was just wrapping up the dough to chill in the fridge when she heard the sound of Souji's keys in the door. Hurriedly she put the cookie dough in the fridge and wiped her hands before she grabbed her purse and went to meet him.

By the time she had rounded the corner, Souji had already closed the door behind him. A smile pulled at his lips as he held out a light jacket for her.

"You ready to go?"

Chizuru couldn't help but smile as she nodded and slipped on a pair of flats.

As she took the jacket from him, she asked, "So do I get some answers now?"

Souji chuckled as he put a hand at the small of her back and began ushering her toward the door.

"We're going to dinner and everyone is meeting us there. We decided it had been far too long since we all got together."

Chizuru looked up at him in surprise, halting them both as she came to a stop. She hadn't expected the source of all her worry and confusion to be so… normal.

"Then what about everything else? You didn't have to do all that you know."

"Yes I did."

When she looked at him quizzically, Souji let out a small sigh as he turned to fully face her, his smile slipping into a more thoughtful and serious expression.

"Everyone was talking yesterday about how it's right around the time you first showed up all those years ago. It made me think about how grateful I am you didn't just turn around and leave after what a jerk I was." She tried to speak, but he put a finger over her lips. "I just wanted to make sure you knew that, other than our daughters, you are the single most important person in my life."

Chizuru tried to filter through the flurry of emotions rushing through her. She was relieved to finally understand why Souji had done everything, but his reason for it also touched her deeply. It wasn't that she had ever doubted how he felt about her, but to have it displayed so earnestly and completely… well, it was safe to say it left her more than a tad emotional.

Despite her best efforts Chizuru couldn't keep the tears from the corners of her eyes as his hand shifted to cradle her face and his thumb traced a path over her cheek.

Her voice cracked slightly as she said, "Oh… I thought I had forgotten our anniversary or something."

Souji laughed as he pulled her closer until her head came to rest against his chest and his arms wrapped tightly around her. That carefree, honest laugh, untouched by any teasing, sarcasm, or cynicism was one of the most beautiful sounds to her. It didn't matter that hearing it from him was normal now, she still treasured and stored away each one.

When his laughter turned into chuckles and faded away, the only sound breaking the comfortable silence between them was her occasional sniffle as she blinked back the tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes.

Finally Souji rested his cheek against the top of her head as he said, "So are we going to stand here all night, or can I take you to dinner? At this rate Shinpachi and Heisuke will probably be drunk by the time we get there."

"In a minute," she mumbled as she wound her arms tightly around him.

She did want to go to dinner and spend time with everyone, but more than that, she simply wanted him to hold her for just a bit longer.


	3. Coquette

**Coquette**

Prompt: Tease/Sleepy  
Rating: Strong T  
Length: 1,500 words  
Description: Chizuru has picked up a few tricks in the years since she married Souji and this morning she's putting them to good use… Even if things don't go quite the way she planned.

* * *

For once it wasn't the harsh buzzing of her alarm that woke Chizuru up. No, this time it was a thin stream of light seeping through a crack in the curtains that happened to be shining right in her face. She shifted, trying to escape the light, but it seemed determined to follow her.

Her mind still foggy with sleep, Chizuru gave up fighting the inevitable and reached over to turn off the alarm. She knew Souji hated the thing and only tolerated it because, as she had rightfully pointed out, nothing else was likely to get him out of bed. Since the sun had decided to wake her up, the least she could do was make her husband's morning a little more pleasant.

Apparently her movements hadn't gone unnoticed.

She felt Souji's arms wrap around her waist and pull her tight against his warm chest. The previous night he'd insisted it was too hot to sleep with a shirt on and right then she was glad he had forgone his usual light t-shirt. It meant there was nothing but her own thin shirt between her back and the heat his skin always seemed to exude. She let out a sigh of appreciation as that warmth began to seep into her. They'd left the window open to try to mitigate the lingering late summer heat, but now the room was cold with damp morning air that smelled distinctly of autumn.

With her body now fully flush against him, he mumbled sleepily in her ear, "Thank you."

"You're up?"

She tried to crane her neck around to look at him, but he curled tighter around her and buried his face in the back of her neck as he shook his head.

"No."

Chizuru couldn't help a light huff of amusement. "Nice try sleepy-head." She ran her fingers along his forearm and he loosened his hold enough for her to roll over and face him. "It's time to get up."

He cracked one eye open to look at her.

"And what if I don't want to?"

"I don't think 'wanting' has anything to do with it," she said as she brushed several strands of his hair off his face. It was getting just a little long and she made a mental note to sit him down and trim it at some point.

The slit of green disappeared as Souji closed his eyes and settled himself more fully under the blankets, pulling her closer as he did so.

"Nope. You'll have to convince me."

She thought about just trying to slip out of his hold and get ready for the day. If she wasn't there, he would eventually drag himself out of bed… but she could also spare a minute or two.

Chizuru grinned as she stretched until her face was directly in front of Souji's. To his credit, he didn't so much as twitch as she paused for a second to admire him. It never failed to amaze her how he could just seem to roll out of bed and look good. Leaning forward, she quickly pressed a chaste kiss to the tip of his nose before settling back on to the pillow.

Just like she'd expected, Souji opened his eyes fully as his mouth pulled into a pout.

"That's it? That was supposed to convince me?"

In contrast to his petulant tone, his eyes lit up with a mischievous gleam that Chizuru knew meant trouble. If she was going to make any kind of a timely escape, she would have to do it quickly.

Before she could make good on that thought, one of his hands moved up from her waist to cradle the back of her head. He leaned forward to whisper seductively in her ear, "Maybe I need to give you a few pointers…"

Of course Souji didn't wait for her to answer. Instead his fingers worked their way into her hair as his lips trailed a burning path up and down the line of her jaw. Chizuru drew in a sharp breath and her heart picked up its pace as his other hand moved to her hip and his thumb slid under the hem of her shirt to caress her skin. She could feel his lips pull into that all too familiar proud-pleased smirk at her response.

That smirk was just enough of an incentive—barely—for her to push back the hazy warmth she could feel building in her middle as she said accusingly, "I thought I was supposed to be getting you out of bed…"

His lips left their path along her jaw until they hovered just over hers. The mischievous light was still in his eyes, but it was now tempered by a soft passion. She could feel his fingers sliding further under her shirt to trace along her ribs as he murmured, "I've changed my mind," before fully pressing his lips to hers.

Almost without her volition, her hands began to trace their own path across his chest and down the toned planes of his stomach. Souji groaned in response and deepened the kiss, nibbling gently at her bottom lip as he shifted so he was hovering over her.

When he pulled away so they could breathe, Chizuru gasped out her last defense, "I've got to get the girls up for school."

Souji laughed as he settled more heavily against her, and his nose nudged her head to the side so that his mouth could move to suck lightly at her neck. She wanted to tell him to quit trying to leaving marks where everyone could see. It wasn't like they ever lasted, but the sensations were scattering her thoughts in the most wonderful way.

When he finally let go and looked down at her, his eyes trailing up from proudly from the mark that would thankfully be gone soon, he said, "Sleep is good for them. We'll write a note saying they were at the dentist."

She tried to work up a glare, but from the way Souji's grin widened, she was fairly sure it fell completely flat.

"We can't do that. That'd be the third time this month-"

He didn't let her finish, instead silencing her with a quick, impish kiss before saying, "Healthy teeth are important."

This wasn't working…

"Fine, but we'll make it a doctor's appointment."

Chizuru let herself go lax as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into another deep kiss. Souji was all too happy to oblige, humming appreciatively when she brought her legs up around his hips and ran her hands through his hair. A little pressure in just the right spots and it was no problem for her to roll them so that it was her who now straddled him.

Or she would have been straddling him… if it wasn't for the fact that she hadn't stopped her roll when she reached the top. Instead, she let go of him and continued moving right out of his relaxed hold.

While the action had succeeded in freeing her from his tenacious hands, it also sent her right over the edge of the bed. Chizuru let out a yelp as the mattress disappeared from beneath her, and her butt met the hard floor. She sat there for a second, slightly stunned at the impact, before she managed to peek her head back above the bed.

The sight of Souji, propped up on his elbows, as he started at her in bemused disbelief was just too much for her and Chizuru couldn't hold back a fit of giggles.

Seeing that she wasn't hurt, Souji ran a hand through his hair as he collapsed back onto the bed with a frustrated groan. "Devil woman. And you call me a tease…"

She did feel a little bad for doing that to him, but while she wanted to give him some token of affection in apology, she also knew that she really wouldn't be leaving if he got his hands on her again. Instead, she offered him an apologetic smile as she folded her arms on top of the bed and rested her chin on them.

"If you get out of bed, I'll make it up to you tonight."

The speed at which his head popped up off the pillow was almost as comical as the excited grin that lit up his face.

"Oh, well if that's the case…"

As he moved past her and out of bed, Souji paused to press a quick kiss to her forehead, letting her know she was forgiven for her admittedly coquettish actions. He snagged a shirt from a partially open drawer.

"I'll wake the girls while you start breakfast."

Chizuru sighed and smiled contentedly as she watched him pull on the shirt and head out of their room.

Then a troubling thought occurred to her and she hastily called after him, "Be nice!"


End file.
